Cotolo’s Harness Review, News And Notes

POSTED Jun 8, 2013
By
Frank Cotolo

It was a slow weekend for us on the betting platform because
we were mostly done in by public choices. The one we wanted, the beast of
pacing, Captaintreacherous, put in a dynamic performance to win a North America
Cup elim. He was challenged in the stretch and met that by dismissing the
challenger and pacing to a win in 1:48.4.

We were second with second-choice Odds On Equuleus in
another elim (won by the top betting choice, Vegas Vacation) and third with
Martini Hanover, in the other elim (won by a 5-2 co-favorite). “Martini” was
more than 20-1.

Also in the mix of an Armbro Flight elim, our 30-1 Bax Of
Life made the final, finishing third. We lost the other elim with Dorsay, who
made a good front-trotting effort to three-quarters at 13-1, to the public
choice, Maven.

The sole Fan Hanover elim was won by another big choice, I
Luv The Nitelife, though our choice, Parlee Beach, finishing eighth, made next
week’s final.

For result stories and our winners on soph-colt-and-filly
trotters’ stakes, visit the Hambletonian
Society’s special archive page for the Hambletonian Trail stories.

H2W

$5.00 Neverdie, Bangor
$4.60 Peaceful Prince, Pompano

$2.60 Nineleven Hero, Maywood

The following are the horses that finished second or third
along with their post-time odds. Special notes on those finishes follow.

Blueridgevalentino was second to the favorite, paying $15.60
to place and combining for a $48.60 exacta. Meadows H2W horses will be updated
here as six go to post on June 10.

All adjustments for returnees to the list and additions will
be in the Thursday blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

News And Notes

Two-year-olds continue to tune up
for the 2013 racing season. The Meadowlands hosted baby races Saturday, June 8
and a herd of youngsters took to the limestone. Here is a treated report we
received from Nick Salvi at the baby-race program to help you keep an eye on
freshmen coming to post soon. A sharp trotting colt
named Jetta Liner from the first crop of Pennsylvania sire Lear Jetta impressed
a lot of people. The colt led all the way to win. Paul Reid trains.

The
mating of 2009-Hambo-winner Muscle Hill and 2008-Hambo Oaks-winner Creamy Mimi
resulted in a colt named King City, who won after showing a quick turn of foot,
looping the short field to win for trainer Jonas Czernyson.

Another
mating of note was Nicole Kraft to sire Ken Warkentin. This cross has resulted
in the small filly, Love Detective, who scooted home to win. Jimmy Takter.

The pacers impressing included
Schnittker’s Art Major filly, Hay Stacked, Ali Blue (an American Ideal filly
trained by Takter), Western Ideal filly My Lady Day (Joe Holloway trains),
American Ideal colt Bakersfield (Takter trains), Always A Virgin-sired Always B
Miki with an impressive front-pacing effor (Holloway trains), Maxi Bon,
sprinting home in :26.4 (Tony Alagna trains) and Tellitlikeitis, a Well Said
first cropper from Kikikatie for Team Takter.

A joint venture of Churchill
Downs Inc. and Delaware North Cos. Gaming & Entertainment plans to open
its Ohio racino in December. VP/CFO Bill
Mudd said the project is a $272-million investment. The track, for harness
racing, is under construction. It will include a five-eighths-mile oval.Louisville-based Churchill currently
operates casino-style gaming at its racetracks in New Orleans and Miami and at
two facilities in Mississippi.

Trainer Dustin Jones is talking about the 2013 Hambletonian Winterbook
favorite, Wheeling N Dealin, undefeated at two and unraced so far at three.
There have been three undefeated freshman trotters in the past 11 years with
serious Hambletonian aspirations—Broadway Hall, Cantab Hall and
Dewycheatumnhowe—and only “Dewey” kept his string alive, becoming the first
undefeated Hambletonian winner. He won in 2008, making his streak 15 in a row.
“Wheeling” ended his frosh winning streak with a Breeders Crown victory at
Woodbine.

Reports are that Wheeling has gone through “a smooth transition into his
sophomore season” for Jones as he readies for his debut at three sometime this
month. He has been schooled (1:57.3 at Mohawk) and Jones said, “He’s been
training back real good. We gave him three months off after the Breeders Crown.
We started jogging him again in January … He’s going to qualify at Mohawk.
We’re not sure if we’re going to qualify him two or three times. Our plan is to
race him in a few overnights at Mohawk, then maybe race him the week before the
Hambletonian in a [soph] Open.”

Wheeling is eligible to the Stanley Dancer and the Yonkers Trot but Jones
said the colt’s connections have “decided he’s definitely not going to the
Yonkers Trot.” This is common for colts with a Hambo path, as trainers and
owners fear the half-mile race. Jones said, “it’s all about peaking and timing
it just right. If we get him ready too early, how are you going to keep him
sharp all season? There’s that big carrot out there, which is the
million-dollar bonus for winning the Earl Beal, Jr. Memorial, the Colonial and
Breeders Crown, but that’s awful tough. We’re obviously going to key for the
Hambletonian, then the Colonial, the Canadian Trotting Classic, the Kentucky
Futurity and the Breeders Crown. Hopefully, we can keep him good for all of
those races. That’s tough enough.”

With the return to heat racing for this year’s Hambletonian, Jones is
confident he has the type of horse that can handle it. “He trucks good, so the
travel is not a problem, and the heats shouldn’t bother him. He’s a very
relaxed horse. Heats wouldn’t have been good for Prestidigitator [Jones’
entrant in 2012] because he’s so hard on himself on the track. On the other
hand, [Wheeling] is like two fingers to drive.”

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